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Volkwagen's global sales up nearly 15 per cent in October

The redesigned Volkswagen Beetle is seen in this undated handout photo.

The Associated Press
Published Friday, November 16, 2012 7:28AM EST

BERLIN - Volkswagen AG says it delivered nearly 15 per cent more vehicles worldwide in October than a year earlier as strong sales in America, China and Russia helped compensate for weakness in western Europe.

The company, whose brands include Skoda, Seat and Porsche, said Friday that it delivered 788,700 vehicles last month, up from 688,000 a year earlier.

It says its sales for the year's first 10 months were up just over 10 per cent, rising to 7.5 million from 6.8 million. Over that period, deliveries in the U.S. were a third higher at 481,100; those in China were up nearly 20 per cent at 2.26 million; and sales in Russia rose by nearly half to 262,200.

But in debt-troubled western Europe, excluding Volkswagen's German home market, sales dropped 5.8 per cent to 1.57 million.